Characteristics of the Land Mobile Satellite MIMO Channel

This paper presents inclusive details of a measurement campaign carried out in Guildford, UK, during the summer of 2005, where the land dual-antenna mobile, dual-satellite MIMO channel at S band frequencies was characterized. Two emulated, adjacently positioned, low elevation satellites, each with a right hand circular polarized antenna, communicate with a vehicle containing two co-polarized antennas. This measurement setup is aimed at being representative of a geostationary MIMO satellite cluster scenario. Narrowband measured characteristics of the land mobile satellite-MIMO channel are presented, and show the harsh channel to be overcome, with 1% of channels reaching more than 40 dB beyond free space loss. The experimental channel data obtained for this 2times2 MIMO system is investigated for possible capacity improvement, over a single satellite SISO system. It is shown that a near doubling in median and 10% outage capacity is achievable from a 2times2 land mobile satellite MIMO system compared with a SISO system, highlighting some advantages of satellite MIMO systems.